VIOLET

My eyes fluttered open, the rays of sunlight falling on my face. It made it hard to fall back asleep.

It felt like someone had put sandbags on my eyelids. It was so hard getting them to open but eventually I did.

It took some time before my eyes finally adjusted to the light. With a groan, I pushed myself up into a sitting position and looked around. I was on the floor outside the main house.

I looked back at the tall building that had served as my home and prison for twenty-two years. The torture and torments I had endured in that house wasn’t something I liked thinking about.

All of a sudden, memories of the previous night began to flood my mind. I clutched my chest, feeling like my heart was going to give out.

It was still hard to believe that all of it had happened. I had been painfully rejected. The worst part was that he had embarrassed and humiliated me before the whole part.

I took in a shaky breath and got up to my feet with a few groans. There was no point in hating myself over what happened.

I didn’t regret a single word of what I had said last night. I meant every single one of it.

I would no longer take the horrible treatments of the pack members. What happened was very clear.

Tristan had made his choice very clearly and decided who he wanted to choose over me. The battle line had been drawn and I would not be succumbing.

“Mark my words Tristan Black. I will make you pay for everything you made me endure.” I swore to myself.

I made my way to the back of the house where I knew the window to my room would be. I looked around and my eyes landed on the tree.

I looked down at what I was wearing. I was still in yesterday’s gown. It would be impossible to climb with it.

I began to rip at the seams until I knew I would be able to freely climb up. It was a shame I had to ruin the only beautiful gown I had but I knew it was necessary.

Taking in a deep breath, I began climbing the tree.

It took some time before I finally made it to the branch that extended all the way to my window.

I looked around, making sure no one was watching me. It was still pretty early in the morning so most of the pack members would still be asleep by now.

I crawled into the room through the open window and landed less than gracefully. There was no time to waste.

The rest of the pack would be waking up any minute from now. I quickly took off the gown, grabbing a shirt and some black jeans before putting them on.

Grabbing the bag and packing most of my essentials into it was easy. Once I was done, I put on my hoodie and flipped the hood over my head.

Standing by the window, I took one final glance at my room. Blowing out a breath, I got out of the window and climbed down the tree with my bag still in hand. I landed on the ground with a small thud. I quickly looked around, making sure no one saw me.

“We’re good. We’re good.” I tried to reassure myself as I bolted for the forests.

It wasn’t all that far from the main house and soon enough, I had made it there. I looked back, the houses already in a far distance. My heart thrummed in my chest as the thought of what I was doing echoed in my head.

It was for the best. I deserved this. I needed to do it for myself. I let out a breath before turning and heading deeper into the forest.

All my senses where on alert as I walked through the forest. I didn’t have a phone that I could use so it only made my journey the more difficult.

My main aim was to find someone that could help me beat Tristan Black. When I thought about getting revenge, there was only one person that came to mind. The one person that I knew Tristan hated with every single cell in his body.

Alpha of rival Dark Moon Pack, Lucian Sinclair.

He was well known as a monster among wolves, with a ruthless reputation and a knack for defeating his enemies in the most brutal way possible. Was I sure if I could even find him? How was I sure he would even agree to help me?

I pushed away all the insecure thoughts and focused on my goal. I had to have faith that I could find him.

I had a map that would direct me where I was headed. I took multiple stops and breaks, occasionally foraging the forest for some food.

I would then get up and continue my journey. This continued for almost five days. By the fifth day I was already tired of everything.

It was as if my mission wasn’t yielding any success at all. I could feel myself on the verge of giving up. What was the point in doing anything?

By now, West Creak must have realized my absence. I tried not to think about it as I forced myself to trudge on.

It was already late afternoon and I had barely even eaten anything all day. I decided to rest against a tree when I felt my feet were about to give out. This was all so hard.

It was hard holding on to my resolve with each passing day. I could feel myself slipping further and further.

Would this even work? What if I even succeeded in finding Lucian? Who’s to say he would even help me?

I was still deep in though when a howl made me freeze. After some seconds two more howls followed the first one.

My body tensed as I already knew what it could mean. There was only one possible meaning to those howls.

Rogues.

VIOLET

“Fuck my life.”

I cursed underneath my breath, scrambling to my feet. If it was truly rogues, then staying there would spell my doom. I didn’t waste any time and began running in the opposite direction from the howls.

The cold wind whipped past my face but I didn’t care all too much. All that mattered to me was escaping from them with my life.

That was all that was important to me. It was the only coherent thought that formed in my mind.

My legs ached with each step I took but I knew I couldn’t dare slow down my pace. Any false step would mean my death.

I’d suffered and endured so much these past few days. I couldn’t let it all end here. My fingers were clinging hard onto my bag as I sought to quicken my pace.

My heart began thumping faster as the howls began getting closer. They’d taken notice of me. It would be better if I could transform now and run but that would only slow me down and give them an advantage over me.

I could hear the sound of their growls getting closer and closer. The thud of their feet hitting the ground filled my ears.

They were right behind me and I could feel the bloodlust emanating from them. They were definitely after my blood.

I increased my speed and began running faster, picking up the pace as best as I could. I was so engulfed in getting away from them that I didn’t bother taking note of where I was running to. All I could think of was getting away from them.

After some time of running, I noticed I couldn’t hear the sound of their growls. There were no thuds coming from behind me. I slowed down to a stop and looked behind me.

They were gone.

“Fucking idiots.” I clicked my tongue, trying to catch my breath.

My chest hurt so bad from running so fast. On the bright side, at least I had managed to escape them.

I still didn’t understand why they’d stopped chasing me all of a sudden. Rogues were known to chase down their prey to the ends of the earth.

I pushed away the weird feeling gnawing at my chest and tightened my grip on the bag. I had no idea where I was at all.

Just as I was about to bring out the map and try to decipher my whereabouts, my whole body froze.

It was pure primal instinct for an animal to know when it was being watched. I could feel it deep in my bones and didn’t even need anyone to spell it out for me. I wasn’t alone.

A low guttural sound made me snap my head to a nearby bush. More growls sounded from all around me.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I watched a number of wolves walk out from different directions. Soon enough, I was surrounded by all of them. I tried to step back but there was one behind me.

I was really in for it now.

The biggest of them, a big black wolf walked up to me and stopped just a little away from me. I felt the urge to flinch back in fear but held my ground.

I hadn’t done anything wrong. If it came to it, I would not be going down without a fight.

“Who are you? What do you want from me?” I yelled out to them.

The black wolf growled in response, its eyes glaring at me intently. For a second, I was sure it would definitely attack.

What I didn’t expect was for it to slowly shift back into human form. I’d seen a lot of handsome men in my life and it was safe to say, this man was blessed by the goddess when it came to looks.

The tall man walked closer to me, eyeing me up and down with a look of suspicion in his eyes.

“I think we’re the ones who should be asking you that.”

The other wolves shifted into a group of men, all of them watching me intently. I had to resist the urge to squirm under their intense gaze.

The man in front of me was probably contemplating if he should just kill me off. My heart sped up at that thought.

“Check her bag.” He said to one of the other men.

The blonde hair man grabbed my bag forcefully and emptied out its contents on the floor. They probably had no interest in what they saw and turned back to me, annoyance reading all over their facial expressions.

“Who do you work for? What allegiance do you serve?” He threw a barrel of questions at me, not giving me the chance to muster a single answer.

“I-

“You’ll be coming with us.”

Without giving me a chance to defend myself, the others grabbed me and began dragging me with them.

“Hey. Wait one second. This isn’t what you think. Who are you? And where the hell am I?”

They didn’t bother answering any of my questions and just dragged me along with them. My heart beat sped up as various scenarios ran through my head.

Where were they taking me to? Who were they? I’d heard of people getting kidnapped this way. Was the same thing happening to me? Would I be whisked off to heaven knows where? My body parts sold off?

I tried fighting out of their grip once again and the black hair man turned to glare at me.

“Do that again, and I’ll cut your legs off.” He threatened.

His threat was crystal clear. Obey or suffer the consequences. Shit. Everything was happening so quick, I barely even had any chance to react. I couldn’t ask anything else. Who knew what they would do if provoked to anger.

Right. The best thing to do would be to just cooperate with them and give them what they wanted.

Maybe they’d let me go if I did that. It was naïve to think that way but I didn’t have much of a choice. I remained quiet and let them place a bag over my head.

I didn’t expect the painful blow to my head before everything went black.

VIOLET

When I tried pushing my eyes open, it hurt like never before. I couldn’t control the searing pain that filled my head.

“Ow.”

My head throbbed as the remnants of a headache wrapped itself around my head. The memories flooded my head immediately. It was hard opening my eyes but I eventually managed to do so.

I squinted my eyes, trying to adjust to the lighting of the room. The only thing I could do was take a good look at the room. It was empty save for a small lightbulb that hung from the ceiling.

I tried to move my body but realized my hands had been tied behind my back. Trying to fight out of the ropes was nothing but a futile attempt. I let out a curse under my breath. So much for trying to find Lucian Sinclair.

All my plans were going south so far. I had failed to find the one person that was supposed to help me get my revenge. I had no idea where I was being held. Worst of all, I was so fucking hungry.

My stomach growled in response and I had to double over to try and placate the pain. Keeping my eyes open required a lot of effort and my breathing was becoming more ragged with each passing minute.

The last thing I wanted was to die here. I’d barely escaped those rogues. I refused to let things end here for me.

The door swung open and my whole body stiffened. I watched as two men walked into the room, shutting the door behind them.

One of them was the man that had dragged me here. The other was a much taller man.

I held my breath as he walked closer to me. To say the man was handsome would be the biggest understatement of the century.

He was gorgeous beyond words could describe. He had midnight black hair with ocean blue eyes.

I could make out various tattoos that sprawled out of his shirt, wrapping around his arm in intricate patterns. He had a piercing on his lip along with some others on his eyebrows.

“Is this the spy?” He turned to the other man.

“Yes sir. We found her on the outskirts of the pack borders. She had led a group of rogues there.”

My eyes widened and I immediately shook my head vehemently. I would not be letting anyone lie over me.

I was done with letting people get away with doing that. The man looked at me with a curious expression.

“I am not a spy.” I shot back.

The unknown man raised an eye brow, a small glint of amusement in his eyes. I took that as my sign to go on.

“I didn’t lead those rogues here. I was running away from them. Somehow I found myself where you guys saw me.” I tried to explain.

The man let out a hum before squatting down to my eye level. I felt my breath hitch as he stared intently at me.

There was something about those blue eyes. Almost like they were seeing straight into my soul.

“So you just happened to find yourself here?” He asked, his eyes holding an amused look on his face.

He had a small smile on his face while he spoke. A part of me wanted to get as far away from him as I possibly could but I steeled my expression. I couldn’t afford to be so scared.

“Yes. I’m not a spy, I promise.” I said again.

He hummed, staring at me for a while before speaking. “Do you know who I am?”

I shook my head, swallowing down as my heart pounded hard against my chest. I had no idea who this man was but something about him made me want to run as far away as I possible could. Something about the aura he gave off.

“Lucian Sinclair.”

My heart skipped a bit upon hearing that name. That explained why I felt goosebumps on my body when he entered the room. Of course it was him. His whole body radiated power with every action he made.

“And you are?” He asked, a small smile on his face.

“Violet Murray.” It took a great deal of self-control not to stutter.

I had finally arrived so close to what I’d been chasing for so long. I couldn’t afford to falter now. Not when I had gotten to this point.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t have your tongue pulled out.” He cocked his head to the side, watching my every move and reaction.

I swallowed down, letting his threat marinate fully. I’d heard what he said very clearly. He wasn’t one to mince his words or try to sugarcoat them.

He meant every word of what he said. Whatever response I gave would decide whether I would live or die. Easy enough.

“Alpha, are you sure she’s not a spy?” The man asked.

Lucian’s eyes never left mine as he spoke. “No. She’s not.”

He sounded so sure of it, like it was something that couldn’t even be disputed. A part of me wanted to just throw myself at his feet and beg him to help me. I knew I couldn’t do that no, no matter how tempting it was.

I couldn’t afford to let him think of me as weak in any way. He would see me as a pawn to be used and discarded.

I’d rather die than let anyone see me that way ever again. The only way I could get him to take me seriously would be to make him a proposition that would let him see me as a partner.

“Now back to the question. I’d suggest you answer me quickly. I’m not a man who likes to be kept waiting.”

He still had that small smile on his face but why did it feel so spine chilling. I took in a deep breath, trying to strengthen my resolve.

“Because I can help you.” I answered.

He cocked his head to the side again. “In what way?”

“I can help you with the one thing you’ve always sought after.”

If I was going to succeed at getting my revenge on Tristan, I’d have to go to any lengths. Even if it meant striking a deal with the devil himself.

“And what’s that?” He asked.

I stared straight at him, my conviction firm and my resolve unbreakable.

“Destroying Tristan Black.